We're Going Into OT
by anticute
Summary: Because saying "he's in it to win it" doesn't quite cut it. It's an understatement. Beware: Takumi's a mild sailor in this.


i'm pseudonymosity - you can call me whatever you'd like. the styling of this fic is particularly very...strange. for my own reasons. some of you'll dislike it. others will have no opinion. what i only ask for is that you can bear it.

most of the italics of the dialogue are from Potato-Otaku's translations. there's one line (from Maria-chan) that is italicized, but _not_ from the manga. i italicized most of the dialogue to show Usui's mindset as he's playing against Hinata-kun - but that's a whole bunch of stuff no one would be interested in, because it's all about styling and it's babble, really.

as for my own insight as to Maria - while it's definitely possible she's just playing the Deceptive-Card-To-Get-To-Him, i also somehow think she's almost...actually interested in Misa-chan (chapter 45) or maybe that's just being i'm OTPing them XD. anyway - i can't help but feel that while Maria may be cavorting with Igarashi, maybe she's doing it to help out Takumi. or something of that caring, maternal sort.

as for the title - OT stands for OVERTIME, like in the basketball game. but don't worry - there's not a huge amount of basketball lingo.

enjoy~

**WE'RE GOING INTO OT**

_//pseudonymosity_

_ Because saying "he's in it to win it" doesn't quite cut it. It's an understatement.  
_

* * *

_"Exchange of member?"_

_"Don't tell me... Eh? Are you serious?!"_

_"We've already played this far and yet that guy..."_

_"Is Usui-san going to join the game?!"_

Because putting his hair up and slipping on the school jersey with ease isn't enough to say: YES.

Game start.

Because this _is_ a game. Maria's playing it like a game. She's played her turn. So he has to play it as a game. Defense. Offense. Whatever it takes. And while he has home advantage.

_'I'm sorry,'_ she had said with a slight smile, _'It seems like my bad habit has been turned on again.'_

She's got to be kidding. A bad habit is when you forget to put up the toilet seat. A bad habit is when you don t know when to shut up. A bad habit is when you forget your bento on the counter and Okaa-san yells at you when you get home - or when you call her after school, or when she calls you, instead, to get some groceries for her after school and club activities.

(Not that he's ever had that last experience on that List-Of-What-Normal-People-Do-With-Normal-Lives, but damn it - that s not the _point_.)

A bad habit isn't playing a game just to entertain yourself. A bad habit isn't continually screwing with his head. (And at this point, he almost thinks Maria's doing it for his own betterment than for her entertainment - because of some twisted affection for him. But that would screw up with how he thinks the world works - a world in which Maria hurts, than helps - and he can't have that twist of his life's plot. He s having enough on his plate.)

No. It's not that he thinks Maria's interest in Ayuzawa is fake. He's convinced it's genuine. Why? Because that's how his relative is. She likes girls. It's almost ridiculously simple as that. Thing is - her habit - is that she doesn't know how to damn restrain herself. Selfish.

_'You think, Takumi?' she had said with another smile, 'What about your inability to restrain yourself? Hm?'_

Damn it.

"UOOOO HINATA!!!"

_"YOU'RE THE BEST!!"_

Focus. He can win this. Easy. Then he can buy time - to figure out how to deal with Maria. To figure out how to deal with that bastard of a Kaichou, Igarashi. To just figure out how to deal with _everything_ (remember? He has a lot on his plate.)

That's all he needs - time.

Just. Give. Him.

"Time! Game over!"

Thanks, he thinks sarcastically as he walks off the court. Such rare reciprocity and constancy from the Universe.

He's not happy about it - even with winning 8:53 - because he still has a feeling that not all is quite won. A vague feeling. Like a fresh paper-cut - a dull, but persistent pain that confirms that the cut _is_ there, but you just can't damn see it.

And damn it. Yeah, he knows _she's_ not happy about it. (He's an idiot, and he knows it. But he has to risk being stupid for a moment, just to gain a thousand and more moments with her.)

She's standing on the sidelines and she _has_ to stay there, even when he knows she's not happy. And even when he's the reason for her unhappiness. She may not say it or express it directly, but he knows. She thinks she's invulnerable, but she's not. Not with that heart on that sleeve.

But it's got to be worth it - everything he's doing, to stay here. Stay with _her_. To make up for all the emotional distress he's causing her right _now_ - he needs to make it possible that he can even do that. By staying.

(Because Heaven forbid the fact that he's actually _enjoying_ the little life he's made for himself here. Here - here, that is so far, far away from what he was forced to recognize as home.

He's the Damsel-in-Distress, and she's his White Knight. A modern fairy-tale.)

He's played his turn. He's got time now, rig-

"It seems like I've fallen in love with you!"

Well.

Crap.

('Because Takumi,' with another of those damn smiles, 'you can't always win.')

Overtime.

* * *

"The conditions of conquest are always easy. We have but to toil awhile, endure awhile, believe always, and never turn back."

** - Marcus Annaeus Seneca**


End file.
